On The Ethics of Meat Eating.

Warning- if you are a vegetarian, don’t read this, you will find it insulting. ( I am going to preface this with saying that I have a few friends who are either Vegan or Vegetarian. While I don’t agree with them nutritionally, I like them a lot and respect them. This is my opinion about why eating meat is good.)

LBEB, my favorite as most of you guys know, posted a lovely article the other day about faux meat versus real meat. And then there was this post on the huffingtonpost about eating meat as the equivalent to smoking cigarettes…wait WHAT. Yea, that’s right. The writer said that eating meat is just as bad as smoking a cigarette. 1. She should be shot. (I’m exaggerating.) 2. I feel like stuffing meat down her throat 3. How the hell would we have evolved without eating meat. REALLY!? (What an idiot)Anyways- it made me angry so now I am going to write about it.

I took an art class a while ago and one of the projects was a social issue. One girl painted a picture of a cow and a chicken. Half of them were in the form of meat and the other in the form of an animal. I forgot the tagline but basically she had just become vegan because the book “SKINNY BITCH” told her to. If you follow your nutrition advice from a book called skinny bitch, I’m sorry, you’re an idiot and I have no desire to have any sort of conversation about nutrition with you. That is the PG version of what I actually think. I figured it was best to leave it at that.

There are a number of reasons why people go Vegan or Vegetarian. (None of them are good but I’ll pretend that you think they are.) 1. Eating meat is bad for you.2. I love animals, I don’t eat them.3. I can get my protein elsewhere.

All of these are bad reasons and i am going to tell you why. 1. Eating Meat is bad for you: No its not. Eating hamburgers from McDonald’s every day as your protein source is bad for you. IF you have a problem with the meat industry (understandably) buy grass fed, etc meat. It is better for you from what I’ve read compared to the fairly inhumane meat industry meat. But then again, when I’m buying in bulk I don’t always buy the organic grass fed stuff. I buy what I can. Grassfed meat is better for a few reasons- It’s leaner and the fat is really good for you. It is lower in ‘bad’ fat and higher in the ‘good’ fats. If it’s too expensive, buy it in bulk from your ‘local’ farmer. You will spend less than or the same as you would on beef in the supermarket. Grass fed beef satisfies the claim that killing animals inhumanely is bad. If you want to argue that eating beef will give you a heart attack and that cows are cute- eat some grassfed beef. If you have a problem with killing a cow because its cute, you probably won’t have a problem killing fish. (I don’t understand why but whatever. Justify killing in your own way.) If you have a problem killing animals that have been domesticated for our consumption, well I just don’t know what to tell you.

2. I love animals, I don’t eat them:…But you will probably wear them. For the majority if the vegans out there who say that it is inhumane to kill animals, you’re a s**ty liar. (If you are one of the 1% who don’t wear any leather or products tested on animals, etc…I am not talking to you and there is a good chance you are not reading this anyways…If it is a moral thing- whatever go for it. Morals are subjective) Anyways, if you are telling me that killing animals is not humane, you should probably stop wearing leather and make-up and using any sort of hair or face product. All of that stuff comes from and is tested on animals. And if you wear nike and shop at victorias secret, well you are basically killing humans and I’d have to say that killing your own species is less humane than killing a different one. I’d go so far as to say that sweatshops and the meat industry are synonymous in a way..Really!? So when you argue with me that the meat industry is amoral, I will tell you that you are amoral. (I never said anything about myself- I am talking about people who think eating meat is more amoral than wearing nike or whatever) You need a reality check.AND on a similar note- If you tell me the agriculture industry is better than the meat industry than you are on drugs. (I’m not saying the meat industry is good- I’m saying the agriculture industry that vegetarians thrive on is bad.) The agriculture industry is absurdly damaging to the natural environment. Huge amounts of water, energy, and chemicals are used. Water sources are being depleted due to the amount of irrigation needed. Chemical fertilizer are running into water systems where microorganisms bloom damaging ecosystems and fish. toxic herbicides and insecticides accumulate in ground water. The economic costs are also through the roof. Fisheries are damaged, the cleanup of surface and groundwater is expensive, health risks to agricultural workers, farmers, and rural communities exposed to pesticides and antibiotic resistant bacteria. This doesn’t even cover the costs to third world countries. Which once again, is another topic that I don’t feel like discussing. If you want to learn more about industrial agriculture watch FOOD INC. It’s pretty informative. So next time you tell me that eating meat is bad for the environment, do your research. Maybe you should take into account the costs of that piece of bread or those chips that you eat. Because you have no idea what you are talking about. Big agriculture is way worse and way more damaging than the meat industry. Especially when you can use alternatives such as grass fed local beef. Here is an article, and here.

3. I can get my protein elsewhere: Oh really, Really Fool?Beans, soy, gluten, nuts….mmm yum. Proteinnnnn. (Not really) When I look at these foods the last thing I think is protein. If you do, stop reading this because I don’t care what you think. I don’t have anything to say about beans other than the fact that they aren’t a significant source of protein. Soy- is horrible for you. it is packed full of hormones and it is a genetically modified organism. SOY article here. And another one…Wheat proteins don’t provide you with any sort of protein either. That’s total crap. If you are getting your protein from grains you are probably going to die. And nuts- the amount of nuts (or nut butter) you’d have to eat to get a significant source of protein will make you s**t yourself or will make you so fat you hate your life. (I’m not saying fat makes you fat- That’s an entirely different topic. I’m saying if you eat enough of anything, you will get fat. Nuts being one of them.)

This is a great article I found that explains things in a nice way…and doesn’t condemn vegans because I can be very mean.

Read this if you insist on finding other sources of protein besides animals. It is actually a pretty good article.

Anyways Moral of the Story– eat animal proteins. They are good for you. Don’t eat chicken nuggets from McDonald’s or frozen dinners from the middle of the grocery store. Eat real meat and stay away from soy and gluten.